Last night Denver area bassist Jimmy Trujillo passed away due to a heart attack. I met J.T. when he and a couple of other players from Denver based Cojunto Colores coached a salsa band that my wife Andrea Merida and I played in at Metro State College. He was very generous with his time teaching us about latin jazz and Salsa. I listened to him for years on local jazz radio station KUVO where he hosted a Sunday afternoon show called Salsa con Jazz. A year or two before Tito Puente died Andrea and I saw Cojunto Colores open for Tito here in Denver. During Tito’s set Jimmy was asked to join Mr Puente onstage to sit in on a couple of tunes. I was like, “Wow, I actually know that guy!” Of course he played his ass off!

When Andrea was running for the Denver school board we asked J.T. to come play a fundraiser for her campaign. I was pretty nervous playing with him for the first time.After we played Sonny Stitt’s tune The Blues Walk J.T. told me he had played with Sonny. He wasn’t bragging, he was just letting me know. He put me at ease right away!

This past summer J.T. was instrumental in getting our first Gumbo le Funque album on KUVO. He also helped us get a slot to play live on a Friday afternoon before our Sunday gig at City Park Jazz. That live shot helped us promote the concert that had well over 12,000 people in attendance. It was the most folks I had ever performed for and the second biggest crowd City Park Jazz ever had.

In September J.T. played three hits with Gumbo le Funque. He played amazingly as usual. We were hoping to collaborate on some more gigs this winter. As a matter of fact I put on my to-do list yesterday these two words, “Call J.T.”. I really wish I had called him.

Jimmy Trujillo was a kind, generous, giving person. A man who had played with many important musicians from the jazz world, yet was willing to take a gig with us at local clubs and a wedding. He was a musician’s musician, humble, talented, full of great stories and advice on the music business. And so funky! Damn, that cat was cool. You will be missed!

Here he is, playing with us last month.

]]>http://gumbolefunque.com/rip-jt-a-few-words-about-denver-bassist-jimmy-trujillo/feed/1Being asked to play for freehttp://gumbolefunque.com/being-asked-to-play-for-free/
http://gumbolefunque.com/being-asked-to-play-for-free/#commentsThu, 25 Sep 2014 18:50:19 +0000http://gumbolefunque.com/?p=2675Read more]]>From time to time, bands are approached by various entities and asked to play for free. The pitch is sometimes “for exposure.” Sometimes nonprofits will ask for bands to donate their time.

Here’s the thing. Our band is an actual business. It’s registered as an LLC with the Secretary of State of Colorado; we are a small business with taxes and payments to service providers just like your accountant or web designer. We are not hobbyists; we are people with music degrees and the student loans to prove it. There is a tendency out there to think of musicians in a band as slackers with no real goals. But we have real revenue projections, a marketing strategy, etc.

This is for real.

So this is the email we got today.

I work with (a weekly publication). We are looking for a group to play for our Best of Boulder East County party on (an upcoming date). The event is taking place at (big NoCo venue) and the set length is around 45 minutes. While we can not compensate with money, we are offering free ad space in the (weekly publication). On top of that, you would be playing for some of the most recognized East County restaurants, businesses, services, etc.

I queried a little about what other intangibles they were offering, like an EP or show review, whether they would assist with booking opportunities with the “restaurants and businesses,” etc.

There was a nebulous promise to do some of those things, not all.

After attempting to get a few more details, my response was:

After giving it a whole lot of thought, I’m going to decline.

The trade-offs for the band aren’t there, in exchange for what we’d be giving, especially since some of us would be driving from Denver. Long story short, it will cost us money to participate, with no reasonable return on investment, not even in publicity that would actually be helpful to growing our following.

We played a full round of paid shows this year. We have a robust marketing program, which includes a strong email list in the NoCo area. We have invested a considerable amount of resources and time to get to this point.

Respectfully, as an aside, are the other services providers, like caterers and the bar, also donating their services and supplies? It’s something to consider.

Thanks again for the offer, and I hope your event goes off without a hitch.

You see, we started this band because we truly believe in the adage that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. Many of you have the same philosophy; we have met many of you that flip houses, make artisanal foods, raise goats, sell real estate…all because you decided to get out of the rat race and simply do what makes you happy. We’re happy too, and we think it shows up in our music. And I know that many of you have been asked to do things for free too, and that just like us, you’re happy to help, but it also has to be mutually beneficial.

Does this mean we’ll never do anything for charity? No. We have donated show proceeds to the Red Cross when Louisiana was hit by flood waters, as well as for Northern Colorado, we’ve collected food and supplies and donations for victims of the Black Forest fires outside Colorado Springs and are dues-paying members of area community radio stations. Heck, we’ve played the People’s Fair two years running, and CHUN is a nonprofit too. There is always more to do, and we’re ready to take up the challenge. But just like your business, there needs to be a good reason why we forgo generating revenue, and there’s only so much you can write off.

Playing too many shows for free means we don’t pay household bills. It’s that simple.

Let’s be clear: this request didn’t come from a charity. It’s a privately-held, for-profit company that is trying to get advertising business from the party attendees. That’s fine, but that company should recognize what a real win-win looks like. Is it always about pay? No. In a sense, they should be looking at the participation of bands like sponsorships. Sponsors get something for their contribution.

What were they offering? At the end, it was a free ad (may or may not be to our target audience) some free food, but NO drinks. The cost-benefit analysis didn’t make sense.

I’m bringing this up because this sort of thing happens all the time, and oftentimes the public doesn’t realize it. But you should be aware, so that you can make a decision about how you will support the local small businesses that get you grooving. If they’re playing a free show, maybe pick up a CD or make a point to see another show and leave a tip. Or maybe even let the venue/event planner know your thoughts on marketplace fairness. Or just talk to the performers and find out what’s up.

A fan has sent us the following piece, and we thought it would be a great tribute to post it here and share it. It’s a well-researched history of New Orleans music…from the “corner of Rampart and Dumaine.” –Gumbo le Funque

Matassa’s grocery today. RIP, Cosimo.

Goodbye to an Era

by Doug Egan

Cosimo in the studio

Cosimo Matassa has died. Many of you I’m emailing this to will know who he was, some won’t. This article will give a lot of information:

Many people associate the birth of Rock ‘n Roll with Sam Phillips, Memphis, and Elvis. But Elvis’ 1st recording came 6 YEARS after this recording down the river in New Orleans:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgdzS4OSQ1M

Cosimo was truly the architect (along with Dave Bartholomew and Allen Toussaint) of a ‘golden period’ in early Rock n Roll: the New Orleans R&B era, which coincided with several other national trends, and lasted all the way until the Beatles overthrew everything. He was also a very low-key and humble man, and spent many years after retiring from recording running his small (and I mean 50×20 feet!) French Quarter grocery, accessible and friendly. His son still runs the grocery.

New Orleans rock was happy rock: nothing dark, bitter, or angry. It was fun, light, and often with a wicked sense of humor. It reflected the city: Laissez les bon temps roulez! It of course had a great beat, and accented drums, horns and pianos, since those were the instruments New Orleans had grown up with since jazz was invented there at the turn of the last century. Guitars were in faint evidence if heard at all.

But it was great music. Thank you, Cosimo, and thank you all the rest that put this music together. (Thank you also to Sam Phillips, because it was both Memphis AND New Orleans that ultimately gave birth to R&R) Here’s a lot of samples from Cosimo’s recordings, with pictures following (no particular chronological order):

Next to Elvis and the Beatles, there was probably no bigger shot across the bow of mainstream comfortable music than this guy, recorded by Cosimo in 1955:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVIttmFAzek
This clip has Richard lip-synching to Cosimo’s studio recordings. Look at the number or horns – the poor guitar player is cowering somewhere in the back! The big dancer in the second part has got to be from New Orleans. Alan Freed is announcing, and one shot shows Bill Haley (pale wanna be) sitting in the audience. Richard was from Macon, GA, but recorded his hits at Cosimo’s.

Back to Cosimos’s, here’s another side in keeping with the fun spirit of Cosimo and New Orleans (it’s a shame youtube is now so successful that there are ads before most clips. Most ads have a button that will allow you to skip them after 2-3 seconds):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM9yYL6BD-4
(Laissez les bon temps roulez = Let the Good Times Roll)

New Orleanians can’t be philosophical without a sense of humor, because, after all, that’s really the right attitude, isn’t it? Here’s Dave Bartholomew (Fats Domino’s producer and song-writer):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vZeLSwz-Dw

Wow. Too many to comment on. Depending on your tolerance and interest, here’s a bunch more that came out of the little bedroom size are (15×16 feet?) that was Cosimo’s studio. How many do you remember?:

Here’s one that was written and recorded by Huey Smith – he was really surprised and pissed when a white producer stripped his vocals off, and added his white protegee’s vocals on top of the music. It was a hit, probably would have been a hit for Huey also:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n10yDX8N3o
Frankie Ford’s real name was Francis Guzzo; obviously too ethnic for mainstream Waspy America. (At times, it seems that almost half of New Orleans is of Sicilian heritage; Cosmo was)

Professor Longhair

The grandfather of funky New Orleans keyboards (biggest influence on Dr. John, etc) was Professor Longhair. He was ‘retired’ and sweeping floors when he was rediscovered by Quint Davis (founder of the mighty, might Jazzfest – which has been jamming since the year after Woodstock), and made a ‘star’ again. His original sides at Cosimo’s were obscure and not very well known, at least nationally. Interestingly, several of his original sides are now being used in Subaru commercials (!). Wow, everything IS connected! Here’s a couple of the old sides from Cosimo’s:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wAMr3V5lN4

OK, on this one, you can look up the original ‘Big Chief’ on youtube. Here’s a rare clip of Professor Longhair (in cap), Dr. John (in his ‘Nite Tripper’ days), Earl King (who sang the original with Professor Longhair) and the original Meters doing that fun and funky Nawlins thing (this is also one of the Subaru songs):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IOyBwrvOKA

Red beans and rice are always the special on Mondays in New Orleans. Cosmo had a great smile – he loved his work, loved his grocery, and loved life!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwz9NcdAhUA (Chris Kenner was an alcoholic who died early, but who wrote tons of great songs, many of which were ‘cleaned up’ by Allen Toussaint. This is the original of this well-known song, his intro comes from the gospel song ‘Children, Go Where I Send Thee’. Apparently God is sending his children to the Land of 1,000 Dances)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wNSHPQj0W8 Here’s the only non-Cosmo link in the email, this was recorded in New York, and is a 1965 version by the Dixie Cups (“Going to the Chapel”) of a 1953 song, “Jockamo” by Sugar Boy Crawford. One of the first songs to attempt a commercial success with what were basically street/folk songs from the Mardi Gras Indian tribes in New Orleans. It’s just such a part of New Orleans culture I had to include it.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iko_Iko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qhxE5z9xRI lots of folks down South came from the gospel shouting tradition. (including Ray Charles, who actually recorded his first sides ever at Cosimo’s, but didn’t produce hits until he moved to Atlantic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBeew18OmfU Ernie K-Doe was probably the most colorful of the gang here, and in later years he began calling himself ‘The Emperor of The Universe’, and hosted a show on WWOZ, the great indigenous public radio station in NO, where you can hear good stuff all the time on the internet or
Tunein Radio app. http://www.wwoz.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IywoiaxtJHE I-V again, awesome and classic progression. Had to have one more K-Doe here. Here’s a later live version, with an unassociated picture that shows him in his ‘Emperor of the Universe’ mode. He loved to refer to himself in the 3rd person. His slogan was “I’m cocky, but I’m good”, and he sold merchandise that said “Burn, K-Doe, Burn!!”

Allen Toussaint

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej2k_3pquWI Nice humorous twist ending, classic Toussaint. To see just how cool and driving NO R&B was in this period, here’s an example I stumbled on by accident from the same period:

Just to show that classics have that term for a reason, here’s a more up to date version:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svAO4cslVBs
Except for the fact that she’s in her underwear, she does a pretty decent version. I guess that’s the modern world.

Finally,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD8RGeXQeoA (this is not Cosmo, but I’m sure he would approve. It’s from a wonderful and touching fundraising concert that was put together only a couple of months after Katrina when the city lay in ruins, and most musicians had lost everything. This is an old Bessie Smith song about a Louisiana flood in 1927, but it can’t be more appropriate here. Buckwheat Zydeco is playing the accordion. This was a very emotional moment, and Irma is seen walking off the stage in tears. It’s hard to imagine how fresh and horrible things were at that time.)

The sage Cosimo Massaro

Lastly, because music and life are about dreams and hopes, reality and disappointment, humor and pathos, let’s end with another non-Cosmo track from a gentleman that originally recorded at Cosimo’s. Earl King wrote such fun and funky numbers as Big Chief and Trick Bag, but here’s a pleasant and meditative song to sail into the sunset with:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSfIXjJt-1g

Namaste to all, and especially Cosimo Matassa and all of the great New Orleans players that have made my own life just a little bit better.

Here’s our version of some tunes made famous by people who have stopped into the corner of Rampart and Dumaine, to work with Cosimo.

Mardi Gras in New OrleansBig ChiefEverything I Do Gonna Be Funky/Freedom Jazz Dance
]]>http://gumbolefunque.com/cosimo-matassa-goodbye-to-an-era/feed/0Limited-edition CDhttp://gumbolefunque.com/limited-edition-cd/
http://gumbolefunque.com/limited-edition-cd/#commentsMon, 25 Aug 2014 17:15:01 +0000http://gumbolefunque.com/?p=2357We literally only have a handful of limited-edition CDs left over from the CD release party. Get yours today. They will not be made available ever again. Click the green “buy for $15″ link below.

We began this band in 2011, not without a little trepidation and skittishness. After all, even though we have been playing music with more than 100 years’ combined experience, it was a little worrisome to step forward with a group of people that are considered long in the tooth by some. Right now, our youngest member is in his mid-30s, and the frontman’s 40s are waning quickly.

We were never supposed to be relevant or cool or “make it.”

But combined with your support, a lot of hard work and some venues and festivals that believe that 40-somethings still have something to say, we have been graced by a lot of success. Good music, socializing and enjoying life to the fullest isn’t just for the younger people.

This CD release means a lot to us. It is self-funded, self-produced and self-promoted. It was recorded by a local Denver recording studio, by a Colorado engineer. We don’t have a record deal, nor do we seek one. We believe in independently-produced, local music, and we hope you do too.

Please come and celebrate with us. The CD release party details are as follow:

Tickets are $15, which includes a limited-edition copy of the CD that will not be sold anywhere else. It will only be available to attendees of the event. If you bring a friend, use the coupon code “couples” and get $5 off the total price. Click here to get your tickets.

You can preview some of the music at our Bandcamp page. Again, attendees of this party will get Volumes 1 and 2. Volume 2 hasn’t been released yet.

We sincerely hope to see you on the 24th. Thanks for all your support since 2011. And please share this blog post!

Have you been to the Speakeasy yet? It’s a swanky place, where what happens there, really should stay there. Check out this great video:

Of course, you will need a passcode to get the CD, and that passcode is New Orleans Music.

We want to bring the best of Mardi Gras music to Longmont. Our sound is muscular and funky, along the lines of Trombone Shorty or Galactic. We play New Orleans music classics, from Dr. John and the Meters to Maceo Parker and beyond. We want to be a regular part of the Longmont music scene, and we hope you’ll join us.

]]>http://gumbolefunque.com/ep-giveaway-at-the-speakeasy-longmont-friday/feed/0Mardi Gras masquerade ball on March 1http://gumbolefunque.com/mardi-gras-masquerade-ball-on-march-1/
http://gumbolefunque.com/mardi-gras-masquerade-ball-on-march-1/#commentsSat, 22 Feb 2014 17:10:04 +0000http://gumbolefunque.com/?p=1803Read more]]>Have you heard about The Krewe of Baloo? They’ve got one helluva Mardi Gras bash planned, and we think you should go. They’ve reduced the tickets to $15 per person, but hurry! Here’s more info: